Oxford restaurant refuses veteran's service dog

Tuesday

Aug 27, 2013 at 6:00 AMAug 27, 2013 at 8:38 PM

When Russell Ireland tossed a retired Air Force veteran and his Jack Russell terrier service dog out of his Big I's restaurant on Saturday, he had no idea of the trouble he'd unleashed. But by Monday night, Mr. Ireland was hoarse from answering telephone calls, many of which included threats from people who promised to burn down his Main Street restaurant, kill him or run him out of town.

By Kim Ring TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

When Russell Ireland tossed a retired Air Force veteran and his Jack Russell terrier service dog out of his Big I's restaurant on Saturday, he had no idea of the trouble he'd unleashed.

But by Monday night, Mr. Ireland was hoarse from answering telephone calls, many of which included threats from people who promised to burn down his Main Street restaurant, kill him or run him out of town.

A Facebook page calling for a boycott of his breakfast and lunch diner-style restaurant had more than 7,000 subscribers within 10 hours. Folks posting there plan a peaceful demonstration, with service dogs and motorcycles, on Saturday morning.

The whole ordeal has left Mr. Ireland moving between emotions, defending his decision and breaking down over the strong reactions people have had.

Mr. Ireland said James Glaser and his small dog had been into the Main Street restaurant before and he'd been told the dog was a service dog, but he found it hard to believe.

The dog also didn't act like the handful of other service dogs who have accompanied vision-impaired or otherwise handicapped people into the eatery, Mr. Glaser said.

"Most of those dogs? They just lay down on the floor and you don't even know they're there," he said.

He said that during a prior visit he noticed a bad smell from the dog and saw it eating from one of the restaurant's plates — things Mr. Glaser said are untrue.

On Saturday, when his staff told him Mr. Glaser, his wife and the dog were headed in, Mr. Ireland met them at the door and said the dog wasn't allowed inside.

Mr. Glaser left the restaurant after what both sides agree was a heated exchange that may have involved a few expletives from Mr. Ireland and clearly shouldn't have gone as far as it did.

"I'm not known for being PC," Mr. Ireland said. "I may have sworn at him ... I made a judgment call about this. I don't think I was wrong."

His friends who gathered daily at the restaurant said Mr. Ireland is respectful of veterans and they were stunned by what happened.

"I'm upset," Hank LaMountain said. He owns the property on which the restaurant sits. "Veterans are revered by society, including at Big I's."

Mr. Glaser, a 41-year-old Air Force veteran who attained the rank of master sergeant, said he was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder in November 2011 by doctors at a Veterans Administration hospital, the same month he retired after a 20-year-career.

He said he was angry about having to leave the restaurant because Mr. Ireland did not understand that his dog provides a calming influence when he begins having anxiety and needs to be near his side. It's not that Mr. Glaser hugs the dog because he's feeling stressed, it's that the dog can predict potential stress-related reactions from his master and will behave in a way that helps redirect him before things get out of hand.

"The dog will lean on a person or put their paw on him," explained Bart Sherwood, program director for the Texas-based program Train a Dog Save a Warrior.

But even before being certified, Mr. Glaser said, Jack has helped him since he was rescued from a Florida shelter in December, before Mr. Glaser knew what a service dog could do for someone with PTSD or similar issues.

"I didn't know what he was doing," Mr. Glaser said. "I met another vet who had a service dog and he was explaining it to me and I said, 'That's what Jack's doing.' "

That veteran explained the process of training or obtaining a service dog, and Mr. Glaser contacted Mr. Sherwood. The organization set up training sessions in Massachusetts for Mr. Glaser, who is from Nevada, and Jack because they were spending the summer in a motor home here while Mr. Glaser's wife worked.

Mr. Sherwood said veterans often have their own dogs trained if that's deemed the best route.

"They already have a bond," he said.

Other times staff members at Train a Dog Save a Warrior choose a shelter dog so they can save two lives, Mr. Sherwood explained.

That Jack and many other PTSD service dogs don't look like the Labrador retrievers or German shepherds that typically serve in such roles may be part of the reason that people fail to see how they could be providing any services.

"That's not what people are used to seeing," Mr. Sherwood said, adding that the calls he's taken about Mr. Glaser's dog are pretty typical and come in fairly frequently.

"There needs to be more and better education about this," he said.

Mr. Glaser noted that the federal Americans with Disabilities Act mentions PTSD in the section about service dogs and the conditions they treat. He said he is working to increase awareness of service dogs that may be working with veterans whose war wounds aren't visible. He'd also like to see the VA help with funding the training or the acquisition of dogs for those in need.

In the end, he said, he doesn't want to go back to Big I's and he doesn't want anyone else to eat there either.

"I made it very clear (when I left the restaurant) that I was going to do everything I could to stop America from going in there and spending one red cent," Mr. Glaser said.

Contact Kim Ring at kring@telegram.com. Follow her on Twitter @kimmring